EU witnessing 'resurgence' in cocaine use: Watchdog

This file photo taken on March 16, 2013 shows a shipment of 3.9 tonnes of cocaine seized in a large clandestine laboratory for the production of the drug, during its presentation to the press at the military air base in Tumaco, Narino department, Colombia. (Photo by AFP)

Europe is witnessing a "resurgence" in cocaine use as the drug's output increases in Latin America, an EU watchdog reported Thursday, voicing concern over tens of thousands of people seeking treatment for the first time.

An estimated 2.34 million people aged 15 to 34 years old used cocaine in the last year in the European Union, or 1.9 percent of that age group, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction said.

"The findings from our new report indicate that Europe is now experiencing the consequences of increased cocaine production in Latin America," EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel said.

The report, based mainly on figures from 2016 and 2017, said water analysis, the presence of purer strains and increased seizures all pointed to cocaine becoming more available in Europe.

It said there were increases of cocaine residue in municipal waste water in 26 of 31 European cities surveyed in the last three years.

The highest traces were found in cities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Britain, with the lowest in eastern European cities.

The agency said the purest strains of cocaine in a decade were being sold on the street, even if the price has remained relatively constant.

"The substances detected are becoming more and more potent and therefore dangerous," the EU's home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told reporters.

Authorities made 98,000 seizures of the drug amounting to 70.9 million tonnes in 2016, up from 90,000 seizures in 2015, the agency said.

The EMCDDA noted that 30,300 people were admitted for the first time to specialized treatment centers in 2016 -- up nearly 20 percent from 2014.

This photo taken on August 10, 2017 shows members of the Colombian antinarcotics police test cocaine from a pack of seized shipment. (Photo by AFP)

Though treatment center admissions have not returned to the high levels of a decade ago, Goosdeel warned: "We must be concerned about the health implications of cocaine."

He stressed "the growing importance of providing effective prevention, treatment and harm-reduction interventions for cocaine users".